How Christian Science Became a Dying Religion
Siewers, Alfred K. How Christian Science Became a Dying Religion. TheFederalist.com, April 11, 2019.
Siewers, of the Russian Orthodox faith and associate professor of English at Bucknell University, was also, briefly, a National Correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor. Commenting in the online conservative The Federalist, Siewers observes there are no longer any prominent, mostly Republican, Christian Scientists in the U.S. Congress or White House, or visible in the arts and entertainment industry. This ‘disappearance’ and decline of Christian Science, he sees as “a precautionary tale for more traditional Christian communities … as they still jockey for recognition from a political and culture establishment increasingly hostile to faith.” What is missing in American Protestantism in general is its “dedication to the enduring cross of traditional Christian faith, as people identify more with secular success than faith.” Siewers perceives Christian Science in that light—as historically bridging “ascetic American Protestantism and the prosperity gospel.” Ironically, Mary Baker Eddy, in her writings, put more emphasis on the cross than the crown.
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ISSN: 0736-8151
See also annotations:
“Christian Science and the Puritan Tradition” by Thomas C. Johnsen
“Christian Science and Harmonialism” by Stephen Gottschalk
Related Annotations:
Annotations related by category:
- Availability: Online - Free
- Controversy: Theological Controversies
- Official Christian Science Publication: No
- Organizations: The First Church of Christ, Scientist
- Publication Date: 2011-2020
- Resource Types: Article
- Resource Types: Web Resources
- Subjects: Christian Science History after 1910
- Subjects: Church Growth and Change
- Subjects: Social and Cultural Studies